Manchester United turn to Sergio Reguilón instead of Marc Cucurella — reports

Marc Cucurella’s presence on the pitch last night in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon in the second round of the League Cup caused plenty of confusion and consternation. After all, the 25-year-old looked to be on his way to Manchester United on loan for the season; so why was he out there a) risking injury and b) taking minutes away from players who weren’t leaving.

Well, as it turns out, Cucurella was probably out there because he isn’t leaving. Manchester United have turned their attentions to Spurs’ unwanted left back instead, Sergio Reguilón, and that deal is just about done now.

While some reports have claimed that Cucurella’s appearance is what caused United to back away (i.e. he’s now cup-tied in that competition), the opposite sequence of events is much more likely. United were linked with Reguilón as well all along, and the ability to break the loan in January appears to have been one of the key factors in their decision to go with the Spurs man, who’s presumably on lower wages, too.

We didn’t really want Cucurella coming back halfway through the season (without any more loan options left), so now we’ve got him for the whole season instead. Yay?